In recent years, the development of a power supply system or a power network, either utilizing a data communication system called a smart grid, has been attracting attention. As a technique for achieving a smart grid, the technique of controlling power demand is particularly important.
The power demand control technique is a power control technique of reducing the power consumption on the power demanding side, making a response (also known as “demand response”) to a power-consumption reduction request coming from the power supplying side.
In order to achieve the smart grid, the technique of controlling the power demand is of vital importance. The power demand control technique is a technique that has been designed to reduce the power consumption on the power demanding side. In practice, demand control is performed by using a power control apparatus that performs a power demand control, including the step of allocating to a power demanding side a value by which to save power.